BlackBerry lays off dozens of U.S. sales staff: WSJ

BlackBerry's Senior Director for Product Management Roger Enright (L) sits with Uzo Eziukwu, CEO of Parkway Projects which is partnering with BlackBerry, during the launch of the new BB Z10 smartphone in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos March 7, 2013. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

(Reuters) - Struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd cut several dozen jobs from its U.S. sales team on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The layoffs are part of rolling job cuts that have been ongoing for several weeks, the people told the paper.

"I can confirm a small number of employees were laid off today," a company spokesman told the newspaper, without providing additional details. (link.reuters.com/kem92v)

BlackBerry, which has bled market share to rivals including Apple’s iPhone and phones using Google’s Android technology, said last month it was weighing its options, which could include an outright sale.

News of the layoffs was first reported by Canadian technology blog Cantech Letter.

BlackBerry could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours.